Pre-Existence and the Near-Death
Experience

It is not unusual for
near-death experiencers returning from clinical
death to report having received information
concerning their pre-existence before they were
conceived in the world. Some experiencers report
of learning how they chose various aspects of
their lives to be predestined before they were
born. Some of the choices people have reported
having chosen before birth include the selection
of their birth parents, choosing their mission
in life, and even choosing how they will die.
This knowledge received by near-death
experiencers of the past and future shows how
some things in life are predestined while other
things are not. It shows how free will and
predestination both exist and work hand in hand.
It means we choose our destiny in life before
our birth into the world to live it. Because
reincarnation is a concept found in many
cultures and religions, the metaphor of life as
a river which we chose before we were our birth,
shows up in many of these cultures and
religions. There are many aspects to a river
which make it an excellent analogy to help us
understand where we came from, where we're
going, who we are, why we're here, and what life
is all about. The following discussion will
attempt to do just that.

If
our experience as a human is analogous to a journey down a
river, then our experience as a spirit is analogous to the
entire
water cycle. Each of us is like a raindrop which fell from a
cloud and ultimately entered into a river for the journey back
from where it came - the sea. Then the cycle is repeated.

In the same way that a drop
of water is a part of the sea and contains within itself the
nature of the sea itself, so our spirit is a part of God
containing within it the Whole of God itself. This concept of a
something being both a part and the Whole is called in science
terminology a
fractal.

By becoming a droplet in the
water cycle, we can experience wonderful adventures which
ultimately help us to understand ourselves and the sea even
more. Which river of life we choose to travel down is up to us.
Once we begin the journey, we are partly at the mercy of the
river and the course it takes us. How we chose to flow down the
river is our decision.

This river which represents the course of our life that
leads us back to God is an
archetype that is familiar to us. Perhaps this is one of the
reasons we feel drawn to rivers and why we regarded them as
sacred. In ancient cultures, religions and even in near-death
experiences, this archetype of life being a river appears. On
the river, we are always moving forward from a source and toward
an end. Life starts out as a small creek and grows into large
river with rapids, forks, tributaries, rocks, and sometimes
floods. Rivers have a history and are evolving. The river of
life can take us to a variety of destinations on shore. There
are many decisions and choices to make while traveling the
river. Sometimes we have no choice at all but submit to the
mercy of the river. At times we can relax and go with the flow.
Other times we can shoot the rapids. We can row our boats gently
down the stream. But if we just remain on the shore, we will
never reach our destination and goal. Wisdom means knowing the
best course of action to take as we travel down the river.

Someone once asked
Deepak Chopra, the famous endocrinologist and spiritual
guru, about the predetermination aspect of this analogy of life
being a river. They asked him, "Does this mean that we are born
into a pre-determined destiny and if so, why even bother
cultivating free will or striving to be faithful?" His answer
was:

"This connection isn't fixed or automatic, it merely
represents numerical probability. Our conscious
choices help determine our destiny. The
deterministic world is ignorance. When we navigate
from awareness, we exercise free will. It's the
difference between ignorance and enlightenment. To
surrender to divine intelligence, know that
everything both comes from God and belongs to God.
If life is a river between the banks of hope and
despair, our ultimate destiny is to become
independent of both, unmoved by either." (Deepak
Chopra)

So the future is not fixed in stone
but consists of probabilities based on current choices and
trends. This answer from Deepak Chopra is another way of
saying we choose our destinies.

A
long time ago, I read Betty Eadie's book "The
Ripple Effect" (see also
EmbracedByTheLight.com) and read the best analogy of "life
as a river" I have ever read. It concerns how we choose our
destinies before our birth and how it is analogous to standing
on top of a very high mountain and looking down upon a vast
system of rivers and choosing which river to undertake. From the
vantage point of being on top of a mountain, we can get a good
view all the rivers from their beginning to their end. As in
life, each river has a number of forks and branches to choose
from. Some rivers are more challenging while others are less
challenging. Some rivers are very dangerous and can lead to
disaster. But no matter which river of life we choose before our
birth, the river will always carry us back to the sea. This
means we are all predestined to eventually return to God. But
once we begin our journey down the river of our choosing, we
have many choices which are not predetermined.

Here is
the excerpt from Betty's book describing the analogy:

"Our life is like a river. The destination is set,
but the method of our journeying is up to us. We can
cruise down the middle of the river at top speed, or
we can hug the shore and spin around in eddies. We
can crash over rapids or chart a safer path between
obstacles. We can slum along the bottom in the mire
and slime of sediment, or we can glide along the
sparkling surface where the air is clean. The river
is ours from birth to death. How we'll navigate it
is determined by the hundreds of small choices we
make each day.

"To discover our mission in life
we must see challenges as opportunities for growth
and then face them head on. Each challenge measures
our strengths and progress. Even when trials cause
pain or sorrow, we must look for new lessons in the
pain and ask God for the power to learn and to grow
from it. Suffering focuses our attention on what
matters most, and with God's help, we can strengthen
our spirits by learning patience, tolerance and
love. These lessons learned, we become co-navigators
with God. But when unlearned, we go into the eddies,
spinning around, making little progress, even
blaming God for our unremitting suffering." (Betty
Eadie)

Betty then addresses how
people shouldn't mistakenly believe that the circumstances of
their youth can set an unchangeable course for their river of
life. She states:

"But, life is dynamic, and the river stretches and bends
as we go. A bad beginning does not inevitably lead to a
bad ending. In fact a bad beginning can give us strength
to create a good ending." (Betty
Eadie)

She also describes how
our past can be a springboard and a resource for accomplishment
and the betterment of others. She does this by quoting from a
letter someone wrote to her:

Letter to
Betty: "God led me into
sobriety from a life of heroin addiction, homelessness,
prostitution ... In my sobriety, I've thanked God many
times for these experiences. I know the pain of my
clients. God gave me the gift to open the door to his
love. For 39 years God was preparing me for this. I know
this today because I have peace and serenity I did not
know was possible."

Betty's response:
"She got to know the bottom of the river - the seamy,
murky side of life that swallows victims whole and never
lets them see the light of day. But through unfathomable
effort this woman looked up and found God. With his help
she kicked addictions and self-defeating habits out of
her life. She fought the undercurrents, disentangled
herself, broke the surface of her troubled life and got
to a place where pure air and light could provide new
energy. She grew strong and rescued others from the
depths. Her beginnings then became the basis for a
greater good she would do in life. Her wounds became
muscles. Her fears became faith. Her mistakes became
experience used to benefit mankind. Like her, anyone can
choose either to drown in past troubles or to fight to
live."

"Each soul
will attain a different level of accomplishment here.
But whatever the size of the ripples we make, one thing
we must learn is to be grateful for whatever trials and
gifts our Father gives us in the journey ... Let us be
grateful for our childhoods, even for the negative ones.
Let us recognize that life is what it is, and that we
are all doing our best ... We all volunteer for our
positions and stations in the world, and that each of us
is receiving more help than we know." (Betty
Eadie)

This testimony
from Betty agrees with the testimony of many other people who
have also had a near-death experience as you will see below.

The following
NDE testimony comes from
P.M.H. Atwater's website. If you haven't
checked out her website and all the articles she
has there, you are missing out on a wealth of
information. This NDE testimony involves one of
P.M.H. Atwater's research subjects who is a man
named Ken who was involved in a car accident
which resulted in an NDE. P.M.H. Atwater calls
his NDE "The River of Life" for a good reason as
you will see. As Ken was dying on a gurney he
moved through a tunnel and into light. He could
observe his body and his surroundings and feels
euphoric but he learns that he must return. When
he asked the light that he be allowed to stay,
he is shown a vision of a heavenly river.

"The wall beyond my gurney became transparent and I was
shown what appeared to be a flowing river. It was silver
and shimmering as it flowed.

"The drops in the
river were each a different color yet all flowed
together as one body of water. Nothing gave me the
impression this was actually water or a river but this
is the best descriptive example that can be given of
something I witnessed for which there are no words.

"I understood (I use this term because I did not
actually hear) the drops were the experiences of all who
had lived. The experiences existed as separate items yet
belonged to the whole. The whole was the collective
knowledge of all. I understood there was no individual,
just one, yet each experience was individual making up
the whole. This concept of ONE is so foreign to any
description I can give, there seems to be no way now of
describing it. My previous understanding of "one" was a
single uniqueness. In this case "one" is something else.
Many being one and one being many, both existing
simultaneously in the same time and space. I further
understood that the collective experiences are
omniscient knowledge. Everything that has been spoken,
heard, and experienced.

"There was no fear, or
joy from this stream. I use the term river of life to
describe the stream. There was an understanding of
complete peace, happiness, and contentment without need
or want, coming from the river of life. I had a strong
desire now to join the river of life and felt this was
home.

"I understood I was not to join the river of
life at that time, I was to go back. At this
understanding I began to have fears and questions. I
again reiterated I did not want to go. I understood I
was to go back. I then was made to understand there
would be great pain. I did not want to face the pain
that awaited me. I understood the pain would be great
and it would change and mold me. I wanted to know why
and what I was to do. I was flushed with two sensations,
one after the other. One sensation was of a sense of an
action being right that brought a brief moment of the
total peace and comfort I had experienced. The other
sensation was one of an action being wrong. The
sensation for wrong was a darkening of the light and
cold.

"There was no explanation of why I was to go
back nor was there an explanation of what I was to do. I
was made to understand that my knowledge was not for
everyone." (from
P.M.H. Atwater's website)

Ken's vision of a heavenly river made up of
drops of water representing human experiences is an excellent
description of our one-ness which many near-death experiencers
bring back with them. In this instance, the heavenly river
represents God and each drop is a human lifetime. A drop of
water is both a part of the river and within itself is the
nature of the Whole River itself. Our spirit is an
individualized part of the Whole (God) and yet within it is the
Whole itself (the
fractal concept again). Near-death experiencers describe
experiencing this one-ness when they merge fully into the light
during their NDE. The drop of water merges once again with the
sea to become the Whole Sea again.

Perhaps a better
analogy of how our spirit can exist both a part of God and yet
the Whole of God is to think of our spirit as a "thought" in the
Mind of God. The "thought" leaves the Mind of God to experience
individuality as a human being. As a human being, our spirit is
an individualized "thought" in the Mind of God but also retains
its one-ness as the Whole Mind of God. When our human life is
over, our "thought" returns to the Wholeness and merges into it
where all the other thoughts are. The question however is this:
When the thought returns to the Mind of God does it lose its
individuality once it merges back into the Mind? According to
Edgar Cayce, the answer is "no." The reason thoughts began
leaving the Mind of God to begin with was to learn individuality
while maintaining Wholeness at the same time. Otherwise,
thoughts would remain as a thought in the Mind and forever by
controlled by the Mind and never know individuality.

"I believe my actual physical existence resides in the
river of life as its natural form when not present in
this reality or life. As a drop taken from a cup of
water and then returned, so the individual drop exists,
yet is part of the whole. I believe there is a retained
knowledge of life experience that becomes part of
collective knowledge yet remains intact as a unit. There
is no body in the sense we know one, no love, hate, or
any emotion as we know it. In a perfect existence devoid
of need or want, all needs and wants, positive and
negative, do not exist. The one-ness I perceived was
what is referred to as God. We are of God and God is of
us. The purpose of our physical existence and life is to
provide every possible variation of action so an
omniscient knowledge base can exist.

"There is
no heaven and hell, as we perceive it. There is no
punishment for wrong behaviors, nor rewards for right
behaviors. There is no judgment process. This is the
reason people anguish over why God would let that
happen. All experience, good, bad, mixed, is part of
omniscient knowledge. In our present life, we have
control over our lives to create perfectly unique
combinations of experience, memory, and knowledge. Some
people have memory of past lives or deja vu because of
our connection to the river of life. The collective
knowledge knows what brings feelings of well-being,
peace, and happiness as well as what brings turmoil and
pain. Our reward for moving in the direction of peace
and contentment is the experience we create will have
more positive feelings associated with it. I note here
also that no matter how horrible the action and horrible
the experience, all experience must exist to make up
omniscient knowledge. This is why there is no
precognition. The collective knowledge is so vast,
likely results can be predicted. Thus, premonition is
not magic, but informed estimation. In a sense we create
our own hell here in this life when we take actions
which bring pain and turmoil into our lives. We can also
create an existence closer to the perfect peace of
after-death existence by living in such a way as to
bring peace and harmony into our lives.

"There is no love in the river of life, as we know
love here in this existence. Since there is no want or
need and a feeling of total peace, there is a sense of
perfect love in the existence. There is also not a sense
of desire to be with someone nor is there anyone to be
with. All are part of the whole which is the common
denominator of the universal existence we call God. In
that sense we are God and God is we.

"I did not
wish to relate my experience for a long time. I felt
very comfortable with this. It was a right action. A
situation occurred 2 years later and I was suddenly
compelled to tell a person. The feeling surrounding that
was right also. Since that time I have come to rely on
this intuition. It guides me in much of my decision
making. I know when I am to tell a person about the
experience when this right feeling becomes very strong.
Likewise, when I logically think I should tell someone
and the feeling is wrong, I do not hesitate to heed the
intuition. I do not feel compelled to tell everyone
about my experience. In fact, I still feel the need to
be careful about whom I tell. My father developed a fear
of death as he got older. I considered telling him to
comfort his fears. My intuition told me not to and I
heeded that feeling. At the instant of my father's death
I was many miles away in route to the hospital where he
lay very ill. I felt a brief return of that very
peaceful feeling, devoid of want or need and I felt
perfectly calm and happy. I looked at my watch. When I
arrived at the hospital, the time I looked at my watch
coincided exactly with the time my father died. Three
years after that, I felt an overwhelming desire to tell
my experience to a friend of mine at church. I also
wanted to get her thoughts on sharing my experience with
terminally ill patients and their families. She was head
of a hospice agency. Talking to this person was an
intense right feeling and I had an unexplained sense of
urgency. When I related my experience the young lady
cried and told me how I relieved fears and feelings of
loss and grieving with the recent death of her mother. I
had suggested I share my experience with terminally ill
patients, but expressed concern about doing so would be
a double edged sword attacking their belief systems
already in place. She concurred and said the conflict
may be more harmful than helpful." (from
Dr. PMH Atwater's website)

Ken's
NDE fits perfectly into the whole picture of a river being a
metaphor for life. Each one of us comes from the sea. Our true
nature has always been the sea. Our journey began as a droplet
of water from the sea, we experience land and the river, and
then we return to become completely one with the sea again.
Should we decide to experience the cycle again we merely become
another raindrop pulled from the sea and the process is
repeated.

Here are more insights:

"A central aspect of our eternal existence is continued
spiritual growth through love and service. We can spend what
seems like an eternity before incarnating in the flesh. During
that period in the spirit world, soul growth can be attained
there as well." (Nora
Spurgin)

"We came to this physical realm to live the human experience and
help each other rise to the higher level of love." (Sherry
Gideon)

"Each one of us came to Earth on a personal mission to be loved
or to give love. We are to learn the value and price of love.
Other parts of our mission include learning patience, humility,
self-discipline, and other virtues. These attributes are parts
of love." (Betty Eadie)

"Our own desire to grow and learn leads us to be born in the
physical realm." (Amber
Wells)

One of the reasons for the physical realm is to test our
spiritual ideals to see if they are real. If a soul has a
spiritual ideal and desires to know if it actually possesses
that ideal, the soul can come to Earth to be tested after
applying this ideal in a physical life. The Earth is a good
school for overcoming certain weaknesses in ways that only a
body of flesh can. We apply ourselves here on Earth to see if
those weaknesses are truly overcome. Here we can learn for sure
whether we have really changed. Only by becoming subject to the
physical influences of the flesh and the laws of this physical
realm can a soul know for certain if they really possess that
spiritual ideal. (Edgar
Cayce)

"The ideal place to grow spiritually is on Earth because of the
influence of a physical body. The opportunity for the full range
of love (child's love, marital love, and parental love) is
ideally available while one is on Earth. Love which has been
misused or misdirected is also best corrected in the physical.
On Earth, there is the full range of physical and spiritual
senses with which to act and communicate." (Nora
Spurgin)

"One of our goals in this world is true self-realization -
knowing that we are a soul, a part of God, yet also the Whole."
(Thomas Sawyer)

"Our desire for soul growth in this world arises from a desire
to be close to God. In the spirit world, there is an
ever-increasing unity with the love of God. This is also our
goal for soul growth in the physical world." (Nora
Spurgin)

"We made a promise to God to accept the opportunities,
challenges and responsibilities of a physical life, to make the
most of this opportunity for ourselves and God, to return to God
with the knowledge and experience gained such that likewise, God
could be enhanced by the experience. By doing good, improving
our minds, and learning to cope with physical reality, our love
for God will bring us back to Him." (David
Goines)

"Souls choose to be born with physical disabilities for the
purpose of soul growth and to stay compassionate." (Lynn)

"There are many rewards for choosing to be born with a
disability." (Mary
Ellen)

"Souls who choose to be born mentally retarded are special souls
who have retained more than a normal amount of their pre-birth
memories and who know much more than they are able to express.
Such hardships are necessary for soul growth." (Sandra
Rogers)

"Some souls choose to be born for a short period of time and die
as a baby or child. The purpose for this is to teach others
important lessons. To love a child who is born less than perfect
is an important lesson." (Sandra
Rogers)

"Some parents lose a child tragically in an accident. That child
was fulfilling his or her mission. The parent was fulfilling his
or her mission also. The parents are in that circumstance to
learn a lesson. Maybe the lesson was patience, love, acceptance,
understanding, or comfort of others. It can be a number of
things." (George
Anderson)

"We are born to face trials and gain the experience of a
physical life." (RaNelle
Wallace)

Some people decide to be born into favorable conditions and some
people decide to be born into unfavorable conditions. The choice
has to do with satisfying divine justice and karma. (Edgar
Cayce)

During our journey on the river of life, we
are given many choices and opportunities along the way. But life
on the river also involves situations beyond our control. At
some point we may experience being unjustly mistreated or
killed. Horrible things can happen. Incredible pain and
catastrophe may happen to us. This causes us to ask why all the
suffering? What does it mean? This is the question which has
plagued humanity perhaps since the beginning of time. Western
civilization knows it as the "problem of evil." How could a good
God allow such evil to happen to us? This is also the same
question put in different words which has plagued the East as
the "problem of suffering."

Why
do good people suffer? I discovered the answer to this question
many years ago when I read a book about the life of
Edgar Cayce
appropriately called "There
is a River." Cayce discovered by accident at a young age
that he could easily put himself into a particular state of
self-hypnosis which is normally very difficult for most people.
While in a deep trance, he could leave his body and travel
through the tunnel toward the light and obtain information from
the so-called "Hall of
Records" in heaven. Once a woman came to Cayce requesting
guidance about a very dangerous surgical procedure she was soon
to have. She wanted to know if she was doing the right thing to
have the surgery. While in a trance, Cayce came up with the
answer.

The woman and the doctors who were planning to perform the
surgery had met once before in a past life. In that past life,
she was a heretic who was tortured and killed during the
Inquisition. The Inquisitors who tortured and killed her then
were now the doctors planning to save her life. Cayce told her
to go ahead with the surgery because the doctors are paying a
karmic debt owed to her for their transgressions against her.
Surprisingly, Cayce guaranteed that the surgery would be
successful. And it was.

So the woman and the doctors were
acting on one level of consciousness as doctors and patient. But
on a higher level of consciousness, they were acting as former
Inquisitors saving the life of a woman they once tortured and
killed.

But this insight raises a few questions? Did the
Holocaust victims, for example, choose to be slaughtered or did
they have a choice? Did Hitler have a choice to be a creative
force or a monstrous force? If only we had the foresight to see
farther down the river to see what lies ahead of us in our
journey, we could avoid all catastrophes and our lives would be
much better. Because NDEs and quantum physics suggests the
future is based on probabilities rather than certainties, the
river of life is not mechanical or deterministic. We are not
"crash test dummies" on a fixed course for catastrophe. Nor does
anyone force us on the river of life. NDE insights suggest we
freely chose the river we're on before the journey even began.
This brings us to the real question to ask:

Why would anyone chose a river
having a probability of turning into catastrophe?

A similar question is,
"Why do people choose to float down the Colorado River in the
Grand Canyon when death is possible?" The challenge? The danger?
The fun? The experience? To test themselves? To discover? Reach
a goal? In other words, does anyone go to the Colorado River
seeking adventure while knowing they are going to die doing it?

7. The
River of Life Includes Suffering Which Serves an
Important Purpose

So
our purpose for returning to Earth is to learn important lessons
of love, to clean up the mess we left from previous lives, and
to attain soul growth through the evolution of body and soul.
People who choose to be born into a life of extreme suffering
through handicaps, have decided to attain greater soul growth in
a single lifetime than most people. There is also evidence that
such people are actually more spiritually evolved than most, who
have chosen a difficult life in order to also teach and help
others attain soul growth. Even in the Bible, this principle can
be found. When the disciples asked Jesus why a man is born
blind, his answer was to glorify God. I have found this
principle in near-death experiences as well.

Here are some examples:

"I wanted to talk with Jesus. I had a very important question to
ask him. A beam of light, different from yet similar to the
first one, covered me. I knew this light was Christ. I leaned
against it for one moment and then asked my question. "Dear
Jesus, is it true that you gave me this heart condition so that
I would have a cross to carry like you did?" (Sister Agnes, my
sixth-grade teacher, had told me that my heart condition was my
cross to bear from Christ.) I heard the voice of Christ vibrate
through me as he said, "No, this heart condition of yours is not
a cross from me for you to bear. This heart condition is a
challenge to help you grow and stay compassionate. Now, go
back." (Lynn)

"Jesus was pleading my case. There was no conflict or
argument here; Jesus' understanding was accepted without dispute
because he had all the facts. He was the perfect judge. He knew
precisely where I stood in relation to my need for mercy and the
universe's need for justice. Now I could see that all the
suffering in my mortal life would be temporary, and that it was
actually for my good. Our sufferings on Earth need not be
futile. Out of the most tragic of circumstances springs human
growth." (Angie
Fenimore)

"Telepathically, he [Jesus] communicates to her: 'Isn't it
wonderful? Everything is beautiful here, and it fits together.
And you'll find that. But you can't stay here now. It's not your
time to be here yet and you have to go back.' Vicki reacts,
understandably enough, with extreme disappointment and protests
vehemently, 'No, I want to stay with you.' But the Being
reassures her that she will come back, but for now, she 'has to
go back and learn and teach more about loving and forgiving.'" (Vicki
Umipeg)

"When I was 7 years old I had an NDE as a result of measles
complicated with encephalitis that resulted in a vicious high
fever of 108 degrees, resulting going into a 3 day coma. I am
deaf, and during the NDE experience I saw a white being and said
I didn't want to go back to Earth because facing a lifetime of
deafness was too hard for me. The being talked me out of it and
said there would be many rewards for me on the earthly realm. So
I went back! The rewards did happen and continues on. I still
face many difficult challenges and obstacles on a daily basis
though." (Mary
Ellen)

When Sandra asked why she could not take all the knowledge back
with her, she was told that it would result in her appearing and
being considered "abnormal" to the rest of society. She then
realized that people such as the mentally retarded are special
people who know much more than they are able to express.
Hardships are necessary for the growth of our soul. (Sandra
Rogers)

"The angel (I don't know what else to call her) said that life
is an endless cycle of improvements and that humans are not
perfect yet. She said that most people have this secret revealed
to them when they die, but that handicapped children often know
this and endure their problems without complaining because they
know that their burdens will pass. Some of these children, she
said, have even been given the challenge of teaching the rest of
us how to love. 'It stretches our own humanity to love a child
who is less than perfect,' said the angel. 'And that is an
important lesson for us.'" (Dr.
Frank Oski)

"Between lives, with the great knowledge of our oversouls, we
choose the next life we are going to live and how much karma we
are going to meet and settle. For example, if you abused
animals, or people, in one life your oversoul would probably
cause you to reincarnate into a situation where you'd get abused
to make you realize the misery you've caused others." (Arthur
Yensen)

"All the suffering in our lives is actually for our good. Out of
the most tragic of circumstances springs human growth." (Angie
Fenimore)

"Souls who choose to be born mentally retarded are special souls
who have retained more than a normal amount of their pre-birth
memories and who know much more than they are able to express.
Such hardships are necessary for soul growth." (Sandra
Rogers)

"Souls choose to be born with physical disabilities for the
purpose of soul growth and to stay compassionate." (Lynn)

"Some parents
lose a child tragically in an accident. That child was
fulfilling his or her mission. The parent was fulfilling his or
her mission also. The parents are in that circumstance to learn
a lesson. Maybe the lesson was patience, love, acceptance,
understanding, or comfort of others. It can be a number of
things." (George
Anderson)

"God never
gives us more challenges in life than we can handle. Rather than
jeopardize our spiritual progression or cause more suffering
than can be endured, God will bring us home where we can
continue progressing." (RaNelle
Wallace)

Some people
decide to be born into favorable conditions and some people
decide to be born into unfavorable conditions. The choice has to
do with satisfying divine justice and karma. (Edgar
Cayce)

"We choose the
life we are going to live and how much karma we are going to
meet and settle." (Arthur
Yensen)

"We are born to
face trials and gain the experience of a physical life." (RaNelle
Wallace)

"Life's
supposed to be hard. We can't skip over the hard parts. We must
earn what we receive." (Angie
Fenimore)

Howard
Storm was given the following insights from beings of
light after his life review when he was fearful of returning to
Earth life and afraid he would make mistakes again:

"Mistakes are an acceptable part of being human. We are here to
make all the mistakes we want because it is through our mistakes
that we learn. As long as we try to do what we know to be right,
we will be on the right path. If we make a mistake, we should
fully recognize it as a mistake, then put it behind us and
simply try not to make the same mistake again. The important
thing is to try our best, keep our standards of goodness and
truth, and not compromise them to win people's approval. God
loves us just the way we are, mistakes and all. When we make a
mistake, we should ask for forgiveness. After that, it would be
an insult if we don't accept that we are forgiven. We shouldn't
continue going around with a sense of guilt, and we should try
not to repeat our mistakes. We should learn from our mistakes.
God wants us to do what we want to do. That means making choices
- and there isn't necessarily any right choice. There is a
spectrum of possibilities, and we should make the best choice
from those possibilities. If we do that, we will receive help
from the Other Side." (Howard
Storm)

"Destructive Earth changes are a reflection of all the social
upheaval and violence happening all over the world at the
moment." (Margot Grey)

"Environmentalists often refuse to interfere with nature so that
evolution can continue unabated. This is the same reason why God
does not interfere with our evolution." (Dannion
Brinkley)

"God made a promise not to intervene in our lives unless asked."
(Betty Eadie)

"We progress at our own rate to reach the light. If we do things
that take us away from the light, then we are perpetuating our
time here." (Amber
Wells)

"It is best to kick our bad habits while in the world. It is
easier while in physical form to break those shackles than it is
to undo them on the other side, where no temptations are put in
our way. There is no reward for behaving correctly while in
spirit, because there is nothing to tempt us otherwise. The hard
school is in the physical one, and it is here that we must meet
and overcome the temptations. Any habit-forming pleasure, and
they are endless, traps us into the cycle of rebirth over and
over, until our appetites are finally put aside while we are in
the flesh." (Ruth
Montgomery)

There
are other good reasons why we come here to take on suffering and
death. Some religions provide good reasons:

Buddhism: In the East, the question is about "the
problem of suffering. Why do good people suffer? The answer
according to Buddhism is that people suffer because of their
attachments to worldly desires. Every act has a consequence
called karma which basically means that when we do unto others,
we do unto ourselves. Karma is the process of self-realization.
The goal is to become so enlightened that all our negative karma
is gone and we do not need to reincarnate to take on more karma
and suffering. According to Buddhists, Buddha took on suffering
in order that others attain enlightenment.

Christianity:
In the West, the question is about "the problem of evil". Why
does God allow evil to exist? According to the Bible, Jesus
suffered at the hands of the unjust because suffering leads to
perfection (Hebrews
2:10). It is through suffering that our soul learns and
becomes perfected. During Biblical times, people believed that
all things occurred through the will and predetermination of
God. According to the Bible, people in those days did not
believe in "free will" or "chance" or "accidents". For example,
they believed that even the outcome of a toss of the dice is
determine by the will of God (Prov.
16:33,
Acts 1:24-26). They believed that the evil actions of human
beings are a part of God's predetermined will and they are
turned into goodness. The crucifixion of Christ was viewed as
the worst evil that ever happened; yet, they also believed it to
be God's greatest display of divine love, goodness, and
forgiveness. The Bible reveals that Christ's crucifixion by evil
men was planned from eternity by God (Acts
2:22-23,
Acts 4:27-28). They believed evil existed only by God's
permission and that God has the forces of evil under his
complete control. For example, the story of Job describes how
Satan's actions are in accordance with the will of God; that is,
evil can only happen if God allows it to happen. In essence, the
Bible reveals that nothing can thwart the will of the Almighty
and this suggest that human beings do not have free will.

However, there are a multitude of near-death experiences
revealing how human beings DO have a "free will" and it is a
divine trait given to us by God. Our free will is then
incorporated into the will of God - we are not robots.

But would having the foresight of Jesus make our
situation in life any better? Such foresight would allow us to
avoid suffering if we chose to do so. But consider this: If you
were ever in Jesus situation, would you allow yourself to
undergo the torment of crucifixion when you could chose not to?
Evidently, even Jesus wrestled with this dilemma. I must admit
that I would never choose to be crucified at least not in this
life. Because life is a test; and because we don't know the
answers beforehand; having the foresight of Jesus would not help
me in this instance.

Consider what life would be like in
a world where mistakes are not permitted? It should be noted
here that there is anecdotal evidence from near-death
experiences that heaven is such a world where mistakes are not
permitted to happen. This suggests that having the ability to
choose right from wrong as opposed to automatically choosing
right all the time may not be so desirable after all.

NDE insights suggest that we are souls who volunteered who chose
to forget our higher knowledge. We enter the world knowing we
are about to enter a realm where we are ignorance of our true
selves and our missions in life for the sake of a higher
purpose. We chose to forget who we are, forget where we came
from, forget where we are going, and forget what the journey is
about so that we can accomplish a higher purpose. But why?

Briefly, here are some good
reasons from NDE insights on why we choose to forget our
destiny:

a.

To learn more
effectively and faster due to the limitations that only
a physical body can achieve.

b.

To focus more on
physical reality in order to better complete our
missions in life so that we are not so heavenly minded
we are no earthly good. If we retained all of our prior
knowledge, we might not bother to experience the
physical life for its fulfillment - we might decide to
skip the pain and thus miss the pleasure.

c.

To make decisions out
of free will without being completely influenced by our
higher knowledge. Any other way would be equivalent to a
student being given the answers before taking a test. It
is not a good way to learn.

d.

To allow us to make
mistakes out of free will for the purpose of learning
and growing.

e.

To appreciate,
benefit, and learn all we can from our physical life by
re-discovering what we knew before - now in physical
ways. Through a physical life we must re-discover how to
return to God. And it is not enough to re-discover these
things, we must incorporate this knowledge into our
daily activities. We must make an effort to remember and
find that our true selves are spirit and our spirits are
one with God.

f.

To be able to succeed
as a normal human beings to advance our spirits. If we
retained all our pre-birth knowledge, we would seem
abnormal to the rest of society.

g.

To do everything
humanly possible to fulfill our missions for humanity
and God.

h.

To make the most of
the human experience for ourselves and God. We are
spirit beings having a human experience. When we return
to spirit, everyone benefits from our human experience.

i.

To prevent unpleasant
and harmful past-life memories from completely
influencing our lives. Imagine having a past-life memory
of being Adolf Hitler. Such a past-life memory would
make it very difficult to function with these memories
and would seriously impede the opportunities to correct
the past-life mistake of being Hitler.

j.

To help God create a
human heaven on Earth which only humans can build with
the help of the spirit of unconditional love.

So when we are outside of our physical bodies
- as when we are dreaming or having a near-death experience - we
are a soul whose awareness expands to a point where we are able
to hold on to these memories and our higher knowledge (the
light). But while we are in our physical bodies and conscious,
our soul mind plays a more subliminal role as our subconscious
minds. Our spirit mind is even farther removed from our
conscious awareness.

For millions of years, the human body has been evolving.
Our bodies evolved from the Earth. Our souls evolved from the
stars and our experiences outside of our body. Our spirits do
not evolve because as spirits we are already perfectly one with
God (the Whole).

But at this point in history, our bodies and minds have
not yet evolved to the point where we are fully "awake" as human
beings. That is, humanity in general has not yet brought their
higher minds fully into their conscious minds. This is evident
from what near-death experiencers are telling us from
the higher knowledge
they learn about during their NDE. This is evident from
the mystical
traditions
found in many ancient religions. This is also becoming evident
from
quantum physics.
As scientists understand the universe more and more, the more
they learn how reality is all in the mind.

I am
convinced that until we as humans evolve into a world of beings
who can walk on water and love unconditionally, we will continue
to come to this physical realm. It may be as simple as that.
Therefore, part of our mission is to bring this higher knowledge
we have known before we were born and incorporate it into our
lives. Then we will no longer be the cave men and women we are
trying to evolve away from.

NDE insights reveal we come here and choose to forget
our higher knowledge so we can learn more effectively and faster
due to the limitations that only a physical body can achieve. We
choose to forget so we can focus more on physical reality and
complete our missions in life better. We choose to forget
because we don't want to be so heavenly minded that we are no
earthly good. If we retained all of our prior knowledge, we may
try to avoid the pain, thereby avoiding any gain. We choose to
forget so that we can make decisions out of free will without
being completely influenced by our higher knowledge. Any other
way would be equivalent to a student being given the answers
before taking a test. It is not a good way to learn.

We
choose to forget because it allows us to make mistakes out of
free will for the purpose of learning and growing. Forgetting
our higher knowledge helps us to appreciate, benefit, and learn
all we can from our physical life through re-discovering this
higher knowledge - now in physical ways. Through forgetting our
higher knowledge, we can understand physical life better by
re-discovering how to return to God. And re-discovering these
things is not enough. We must incorporate and embody this
knowledge into our daily activities. It helps us to make an
effort to remember these things and re-discover our true selves
as spiritual beings and that our spirits are one with God.

We
forget our higher knowledge so that we are able to succeed as
normal human beings advancing our spirits. If we retained all
our pre-birth knowledge, we would seem abnormal to the rest of
society. But souls do assume bodies that are retarded or
crippled because they have decided to assume some of this higher
knowledge in order to teach those around them lessons in love.
We forget who we are because we want to do everything humanly
possible to fulfill our missions for humanity and God. We forget
these things so we can make the most of the human experience for
ourselves and God. We are spirits having a human experience.
When we return to spirit, everyone benefits from our human
experience.

We also forget who were are to prevent
unpleasant and harmful past-life memories from completely
influencing our lives. Imagine having a past-life memory of
being Adolf Hitler. Such a past-life memory would make it very
difficult to function with these memories and would seriously
impede the opportunities to correct the past-life mistakes of
being Hitler. We forget because we want to help God create a
human heaven on Earth which only humans can build with the help
of the spirit of unconditional love.

Here are more NDE insights on this:

"We had to take a vow not to remember anything. Then it had to
pass through a gray misty-looking curtain. The reason is for us
to learn more effectively and faster. The most important reason
for us coming to Earth is to either learn or teach. Most times
both. All the bad things we go through here is either for our
own learning or someone else's." (Darlene
Holman)

When planning our life before birth, we do not deal with the
details. Instead, we have before us our relationships to others
and to situations. But some people have squandered their
opportunities to such a degree that they are not completely free
in their choices. (Edgar
Cayce)

"We mustn't wait to find our heaven in the clouds. We must find
it here because it exists here and will be whatever we make it
and whatever we are willing to accept of it." (Tina)

"If we were born with our pre-birth knowledge intact, our
resulting choices would be predictable and would be a violation
of our free will. Free will is a highly important power given to
us by God. Almost all of our choices must be made according to
it." (Hal)

"We have chosen to forget most of our knowledge in order to come
to Earth and have human experiences." (Laurelynn
Martin)

"Humans have a mental and spirit body. Before going through the
veil, we chose our own physical body. We must forget these
memories because in order to experience a physical life, we must
experience the physical things, be physically challenged, make
choices of free will, and make mistakes so that we can learn
from them in ways that only a physical life could impart. If we
retained all of our prior knowledge, we might not bother to
experience the physical life for its fulfillment - we might
decide to skip the pain and thus miss the pleasure. We promised
God that upon accepting the opportunity, challenges and
responsibility of a physical life, we would make the most of
this opportunity for ourselves and God, return to God with the
knowledge and experience gained so that God will be enhanced by
our experience. The reason we need to experience a separation of
our total reality when we took on a physical body is because in
order for us to appreciate, benefit, and learn all we can from
our physical life, we must re-discover what we knew before - in
physical ways. Through our physical life we must discover how to
return to God. By the good that we do to each other here, by the
ways we improve our minds, and by the ways that we learn to cope
with a physical body and physical life, we earn our right of
safe passage back to God; and in doing so, we honor God. It is
God's love that sends us on the journey and it is our love for
God that will allow us to return to God's loving arms." (David
Goines)

Do we really want to know what our
higher purpose in life is? Consider what Dr. George Rodonaia and
Dr. P.M.H. Atwater have to say about it:

"The point is to live the questions now, and perhaps without
knowing it, someday we will live into the answers. Live the
questions and the universe will open up its eyes to you." (Dr.
George Rodonaia)

"The drama of creation is unbounded and is neither limited by
our perception of it, nor by our ability or inability to
comprehend it. This drama is as stupendous as it is terrifying,
as awesome as it is wonderful, as miraculous as it is
mysterious, as beautiful as it is the ultimate act of
all-consuming love. To witness even a glimpse of such glory, to
know the Real Truth of it, leaves a mark so deep and so profound
you are forever uplifted and transformed." (P.M.H.
Atwater)

According to information obtained from the
human experience with the universe in the realms of
science,
religion,
metaphysics,
and
near-death experiences,
the universe is waiting right now for us to open our eyes and
see the answer that will help us attain our goals on the River
of Life. From what I can gather, the story resembles a modified
version of the parable of the
prodigal son who left his father to experience life on his
own and to discover new worlds.

As a soul, we come to
this world to have a life experience as a human being. Everyone
has been doing this for millions of years. We are bringing God
into this garden called Earth. We are bringing light into
darkness and peace into chaos. We come to help our loved ones
within our soul group and humanity in general evolve and learn
lessons that only a human experience can give.

Millions
of years of ago, the human experience began when souls, like
pilgrims and prodigals, began exploring the universe. We came to
Earth and began influencing and eventually inhabiting the bodies
of a particular species of humanoid. Through evolution we
influenced these creatures to come out of the trees create
societies. Throughout the course of human evolution, as a soul,
we could come here and have a human experience, fulfill whatever
mission we came to do, then death would free us to return as a
soul back to where we came from which is our true home in
non-physical realms.

Living in this world is analogous
to experiencing on-the-job training. We come here to attain
growth as a soul (an individualized aspect of spirit). As a
spirit, we are already perfectly one with God. But with every
human body and life we experienced on Earth over the millennia,
we create a different soul body to be the vehicle for our spirit
as it experiences the world in the vehicle of a human body. At
the physical level, our body is conscious. At the soul level,
our mind is subconscious. At the spirit level, we are
superconscious. We are multi-dimensional and exist in three
different worlds at the same time. There are many abodes and
many dimensions. We are working our way back up "Jacob's
ladder" of success toward the goal of perfected
individuality as a soul to go along with our already perfect
Wholeness as a spirit. We are evolving into an individualized
version of the Whole which is "God" consciousness.

As a
human being, we seem like such a small creation in an infinite
universe, but this is really only an illusion. As individuals,
we are the human and soul part of God. We are extensions of
thought in the Mind of God (the collective Whole). We are
bringing this higher universal consciousness into this tiny
world called Earth while at the same time we are developing
individual consciousness. We are the Mind of God becoming human.
We are the body, mind and spirit of God evolving into a perfect
individual-divine unity. We have examples of this human-divine
unity in the lives of Jesus and Buddha and others. The goal in
human evolution is for us to attain a human-divine consciousness
which can overcome the limitations of the body, walk on water if
we choose, or even live forever on this planet as a human if we
choose to. We are powerful spiritual beings with a oneness of
the Whole and the wholeness of the One. On a higher level,
we are gods just as Jesus said. This is another way of
saying we are "godlings" or "children." We are growing up to be
like our Parents. The core of our being, our spirit, is perfect
love and perfect "God consciousness." We travel this River of
Life to bring the "kingdom
of God" to this world.

"This is the RIVER OF
LIFE. Drink of this manna water to your heart's
content."

When
he did, he said it was ecstatic. He asked the light to
see the whole universe and beyond. The light told him
that he could "go with the Stream." He was then carried
through the light at the end of the tunnel. While in the
light, Mellen-Thomas learned our higher purpose. Here
are some of his and other NDE experiencers insights:

"Creation
is God exploring God's Self through every way
imaginable, in an ongoing, infinite exploration through
every one of us. Through every piece of hair on your
head, through every leaf on every tree, through every
atom, God is exploring God's Self.

"The
interesting point was that I went into the void, I came
back with this understanding that God is not there. God
is here. That's what it is all about. So this constant
search of the human race to go out and find God ... God
gave everything to us, everything is here - this is
where it's at. And what we are into now is God's
exploration of God through us. People are so busy trying
to become God that they ought to realize that we are
already God and God is becoming us. That's what it is
really about.

"In this expanded state, I
discovered that creation is about absolute pure
consciousness, or God, coming into the experience of
life as we know it." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)

Here are more insights into this
subject:

"Through our physical life we must
discover how to return to God. By the good that we do to each
other here, by the ways we improve our minds, and by the ways
that we learn to cope with a physical body and physical life, we
earn our right of safe passage back to God; and in doing so, we
honor God. It is God's love that sends us on the journey and it
is our love for God that will allow us to return to God's loving
arms." (David Goines)

"Our life in this world is a
preparation for a fuller, freer and richer spirit world. It can
be compared to life in the womb being a preparation for a
fuller, freer and richer existence in the physical world." (Nora
Spurgin)

"The conquering of self is truly
greater than were one to conquer many worlds." (Edgar
Cayce)

"Everyone who passes through this
world must learn their final lessons in this world, where our
free will is called into play in a fashion different from
existence in other realms of reality." (Edgar
Cayce)

"If we choose to clean up the mess
we create on Earth, we will not contribute to the mess of others
and this will contribute to the healing of the Earth.
Reincarnation is the process which allows us to return to Earth
to "clean up our mess." (David
Oakford)

"Everyone's gain or loss affects
everyone else to some degree because we are all connected. (Dr.
P.M.H. Atwater)

"In order to return to God we have
to come to ourselves and realize that our lower nature is
leading us down the road of materialism and of living only for
ourselves. This causes us to turn away from God and our divine
destiny. This caused us to forget who we are and it caused our
spiritual death." (Dr.
George Ritchie)

There are a number
of good reasons why people believe they have lived before they
were born. Here is a list of them:

a.

During a
near-death experience, people such as
Betty Eadie
have received forgotten memories of a life in heaven
before they were born. Such memories have been
called "pre-birth" memories. Other experiencers have
also re-remembered such memories during an NDE.

A relatively
small number of people, such as
Roy Mills,
were permitted to retain vivid pre-birth memories
when they were born. As such people grow older, they
usually forget these memories.

d.

Some people, such
as
Jeffrey Keene, are inspired by their day-to-day
life experience to remember past-life memories. In
Jeffrey Keene's case, he has very compelling
circumstantial evidence identifying him as a
particular individual in history. People can also
recover past-life memories through such means as
near-death experiences,
hypnosis,
meditation,
hallucinogens,
and dreams,
just to name a few.

e.

The eastern
religions of
Buddhism
and Hinduism
teach
reincarnation. In ancient times,
Christianity
and Judaism
held a belief in reincarnation. In such countries
were these religions are dominant,
very
young children have vivid memories of past-lives.
There is evidence that such memories appear in young
children born in the West as well; but, because
reincarnation is generally considered an alien
concept in western society, young children are often
told these memories are imaginary and that they are
encouraged to not entertain these thoughts and
feelings. As they grow up, these thoughts and
feelings are forgotten.

We
choose our destiny. Before we were born, we had an opportunity
to see all the possibilities for our life. Using an analogy, it
is like standing on a mountain top looking at a large river
below. We saw all the possibilities like a person can see all
the branches and tributaries of the river. Our mission is to
float this "river" of life. All the branches (opportunities)
eventually return to the river (our mission) and to the sea
(God). Returning to the sea is predestined, but how we decide to
float the river it is based on our own free will.

"Everyone
assisted in planning the conditions on Earth, including the laws
of mortality which would govern us. These included the laws of
physics as we know them, the limitations of our bodies, and
spiritual powers that we would be able to access." (Betty
Eadie)

"A
heavenly process exists in the spirit realm that is designed to
help us choose our destiny." (Dr.
Allen Kellehear)

The heavenly process determines the number of destinies a soul
can choose from. This process is an astrological process. This
astrological process is connected to the various realms of the
afterlife. (Edgar Cayce)

A cosmic matrix of
rainbow light exists around the Earth. This matrix provides
souls with a number of earthly destinies from which to choose
from. Then, before we are born into the world, we are required
to forget these memories. (Plato)

"We
choose the life we are going to live and how much karma we are
going to meet and settle." (Arthur
Yensen)

"Before
we were born, we choose our stations in life based upon the
objectives of completing our missions." (Betty
Eadie)

When planning our life before birth, we do not deal with the
details. Instead, we have before us our relationships to others
and to situations. But some people have squandered their
opportunities to such a degree that they are not completely free
in their choices. (Edgar
Cayce)

"Because
our spirits remember the plan we chose for this life, we are
often drawn to people or situations that impact us in important
ways. This is often the force behind 'chance' encounters. I was
told there are no coincidences. However, making the most of
these opportunities is up to us as we exercise our free will." (Betty
Eadie)

According to
Dr. Michael Newton,
author of
Journey of Souls, the decision to be born into this physical
world is not an easy one. Our souls left a world of total
wisdom, where they exist in a blissful state of freedom, for the
physical and mental demands of a physical body. Dr. Newton
writes:

The rejuvenation of our energy
and personal assessment of our soul takes longer for
some souls than others, but eventually the soul is
motivated to start the process of being born. While our
spiritual environment is hard to leave, as souls we also
remember the physical pleasures of life on Earth with
fondness and even nostalgia. We feel the pull of having
a physical expression for our identity.

Training
sessions with our counselors and peer groups have
provided a collaborative spiritual effort to prepare us
for life in the flesh. Our souls takes action based upon
three primary decisions:

1.

Am I ready for a new physical
life?

2.

What specific lessons do I
want to undertake to advance my learning and
development?

3.

Where should I go, and who
shall I be in my life for the best opportunity
to work on my goals?

Once the
decision has been made, we are directed to the place of
life selection. We then consider when and where we want
to go on Earth before making a decision on who they will
be in life. We then entered a heavenly building which
resembles a
movie theater
to allow us to see ourselves in the future, playing
different roles in various settings. In this place of
life selection, our souls preview the life span of more
than one human being within the same time cycle. When we
leave this area, most souls are inclined toward one
leading candidate presented to us for soul occupation.
However, our spiritual advisors give us ample
opportunity to reflect upon all we have seen in the
future before making a final decision.

After we
completed our consultations with
guides and
peers about the many physical and psychological
ramifications of entering the physical realm, the
decision to come was made. Afterward, we underwent a
significant amount of preparation in a place called the
recognition class. This heavenly class is where we
prepare ourselves for entry into the physical realm in a
manner that is similar to cramming for a final exam.

One of the last
requirements before being born is that we went before
the
Council of
Elders. The Elders reinforce the significance of our
goals for life. Once we were ready for entering the
physical realm, we were like battle-hardened veterans
girding ourselves for combat. This was our last chance
for us to enjoy the omniscience of knowing just who we
are before we adapt to a physical body. (Dr.
Michael Newton)

"We
are given teachings, training, and anything we need to help us
prepare for entering the physical realm. We choose our own pace
and need not be hurried through the realms of the next
dimensions. It may take what might feel like eons of time before
our soul knows what is best for our development while in the
flesh." (Betty
Bethards)

"As
part of our training, we are allowed to watch people on Earth to
see how they handle situations in life. When we are ready, we
can choose to be shown our past lives. If we don't believe in
reincarnation it may take a long period of time before we are
able to deal with this. Reviewing our past lives helps us
recognize all the strengths we have built and all the karmic
debts we have created which must be dissolved." (Betty
Bethards)

"After
integrating the knowledge learned from our past lives, we have
reached a state of total objectivity. We feel no remorse or
condemnation, but see it as merely a review of why situations
occurred and had to be worked through." (Betty
Bethards)

When we made the decision to enter the physical realm for soul
growth, we first planned with the members of our soul family the
karmic considerations because our relationship with them is
vital to what we desired to accomplish in earthly life. (Edgar
Cayce)

There was a vast amount of planning that was done before we were
born. When planning for entering into the physical realm, we do
not have physical details before us. Instead we have before us
relationships to others, to situations, and to those forces
which have prepared us. (Edgar
Cayce)

"God
not only prepares us to do his will, he also gives us all that
we need to do it. He sends to our path the right people when we
need them, whether we realize it or not." (Betty
Eadie)

In our decision-making process about the
life we currently lead, we dealt largely with two factors:

1.

We worked with our
motivation for entering, then with the potential we had
for entering.

"Any
habit-forming pleasure can traps them into the cycle of
reincarnation over and over, until their appetites are finally
put aside while they are in the flesh. This is a lesson for
those souls who would like to break the cycle of reincarnation."
(Ruth Montgomery)

Information gleaned from many near-death
accounts provides us with a wealth of information concerning
concepts such as destiny, predestination, free will, missions
and how they relate to our lives. Here are some of them:

The purpose for our Earth lives includes the opportunity to pay
and receive karmic debts from family members. We plan to connect
once again with members of our soul family on Earth because of
our love for them. (Edgar
Cayce)

"Our
stations in life are based upon the objectives of completing our
missions. We bonded with family and friends to help us in
completing them." (Betty
Eadie)

"The
fact that we are born here shows that we are on the path to
developing an individual consciousness. Ultimately, we will find
God within ourselves because this is our true identity." (Mellen-Thomas
Benedict)

"If
we were born with our pre-birth knowledge intact, our resulting
choices would be predictable and would be a violation of our
free will. Free will is a highly important power given to us by
God. Almost all of our choices must be made according to it." (Hal)

"Our
missions mainly have to do with love, but the purpose of life is
also to experience joy, gain spiritual understanding and
self-awareness, play with the joyful abandon of a child, absorb
ourselves in the delight of each moment, let go of obligation
and duty, and live for the pure joy of being." (Jan
Price)